Precision-guided munitions (PGMs) and munitions systems are used to strategically hit a specific target in order to minimize damage to surrounding areas and civilians. Reducing casualties is a goal which dominates tactical decisions when planning military actions.
Improved guided munitions technologies have significantly reduced casualties. For example, the number of civilian deaths for the current Iraq conflict is estimated to be 19 times less than that for the WWII bombings in Germany, and approximately 162 times less than that for the WWII bombings of Japan.
However, ground and aircraft personnel involved in munitions operations which involve “tagging” a target are still at great risk despite the considerable accuracy of the weapons.
Laser-guided PGM systems known in the art require a target to be tagged or tracked by a designator manually operated by a person on the ground or in an aircraft. To tag a target, a human operator, whether on-ground or in an aircraft, aims a laser designator at the target. The laser designator's beam usually occurs in a series of coded pulses, which allows multiple designators to operate in close proximity. The human operator must keep the laser designator on the target until the signal is no longer needed.
Use of a human operator imposes other logistical burdens and costs. Considerable technical planning is necessary to avoid ground and aircraft personnel casualties. In addition, laser target designators cannot be used when it is not practical or safe to place a human operator near enough to the target for tagging.
There is an unmet need for technology which can tag a target without placing ground and air personnel at risk and which is compatible with current guided munitions systems and seeker subsystems.